In most inland water ways, conventional buoys that are utilized are nun, can, and danger buoys. Such buoys may, or may not, be lighted. Wherever used, however, it is desirable to ensure that the buoys will resist fracture, puncture, or distortion even when struck by water craft, or when buffeted by waves along the shoreline. It is desirable to have the buoys be virtually unsinkable, yet simple to manufacture. Many of the available channel markers meet many of these criteria but suffer drawbacks in terms of weight, size and the ability of an average person to move the marker—into the water, out of the water and to maneuver the marker once out of the water. Furthermore, there are no channel markers in the prior art which are unsinkable, have a replaceable ballast, are self-draining, and repairable.
There remains a need for a buoy that is sufficiently lightweight and manageable in size, weight and design to permit the buoy to be moved by a single person or with less lifting equipment.